https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 21 May 2026 14:34:22 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652872 Tue, 15 Nov 2016 23:09:25 +0000 PawPrints 2652872@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For everyone facing high heating bills, I definitely recommend looking into energy efficiency upgrades (retrofits) for your home. Lots of areas have programs that will help you and some have financing available. Try here to look up a contractor who will start you off with an energy audit (typically free): <a href="http://www.resnet.us/directory/search" rel="nofollow">http://www.resnet.us/directory/search</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652861 Tue, 15 Nov 2016 22:24:31 +0000 sapphire 2652861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Even in the PNW I wouldn't buy a house with baseboard heat! It's so inefficient and I feel that the heating elements are dangerous esp with children. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652608 Tue, 15 Nov 2016 12:10:33 +0000 PointeShoesTutus 2652608@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've had two apartments with electric heat. Each was about 1,100-1,200 sqft. Our heating bill was never more than $350 a month even two winters ago during the snow-apocalypse. The first one had really good windows (thank goodness because there were a ton of them). The second one, not the best but still ok. I second what other ladies have mentioned about double checking if the baseboard heaters are really electric and not on oil. My SIL had to pay several thousand dollars for oil two winters ago when it was really bad. Their house is about 2,500 sqft. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652315 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 17:19:49 +0000 mrsmacSLP 2652315@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I live near Seattle but have all baseboard electric heat. Although our winters are milder, our bills run about $230 in the winter for a rambler 1,560 square feet. We have a mix of older and newer windows (working through them) and keep our house at 68 when home and 64 when away/night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652292 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 16:47:51 +0000 mrsrain 2652292@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our baseboard heaters are not electric. Our oil bill can get quite high on the winter, but we budget for that all year long. Our electric bill is very low in the fall/winter, so it all evens out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652288 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 16:42:31 +0000 MaryM 2652288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not from New England, but I grew up in an older house with no AC and baseboard heat. After my parents lived there one year using baseboard heat, they put a wood stove in the basement with a ventilation system that blew the hot air around the house (there were vents in the floors on the first floor and one blew up the back stairs). </p> <p>It didn't heat the full house, but it helped. We only used baseboard heat in our rooms at night. </p> <p>And they put a wood stove in the fireplace in the living room. Fireplaces often actually suck all the heat out of a room, but stoves radiate heat better (and are a heck of a lot cleaner since they can be closed!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652265 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 16:17:19 +0000 pachamama 2652265@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up with electric baseboards and it is very expensive! We have hot water natural gas baseboard heaters and love them </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652261 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 16:07:23 +0000 Foodnerd81 2652261@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: @looch: we have baseboard heating and central ac too- house was built in 74 so I'm sure someone added the ac. No gas because the gas lines don't extend down our street. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652251 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:53:17 +0000 ShootingStar 2652251@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've got solar, but it only takes care of about 50% of our usage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652249 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:51:40 +0000 looch 2652249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Yeah, because oil was likely cheap, and we don't have gas in our area.</p> <p>I find it so interesting about shifting fuel sources, I would love to go solar! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652248 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:50:25 +0000 ShootingStar 2652248@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: It was probably cheaper to heat using the baseboards so they didn't bother. Fuel economies are always changing. It used to be that houses were built with electric everthing, because that was cheapest. Now around here it seems like everything is natural gas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652246 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:48:08 +0000 looch 2652246@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: It was put in sometime after the house was built, we're the fourth owner, we think it was done by the second. What's weird is that at that time, they didn't convert to forced air heat. I think it was rather simple to do the ductwork because of the format of the house (raised ranch) so it's basically into the attic and then down to the main floor. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652228 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:01:21 +0000 ShootingStar 2652228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Did an owner put it in after the house was built? The house I grew up in had baseboard heating and my parents looked into getting AC and having all the ducts put it, but while it was possible it was extremely expensive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652224 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:53:24 +0000 looch 2652224@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: That's the weird thing about our house, it's vented for central AC, but the heat is baseboard. Makes no sense! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652219 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:43:47 +0000 Anya 2652219@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our is baseboard but it's oil. We installed a wood burning stove insert that blows heat into the house, and that helps, but frankly our house is just cold in the winter months. We wear a lot of layers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652216 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:36:38 +0000 yoursilverlining 2652216@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, you can easily have $400-$500/month heating bills in winter regardless of what heating system you have. If you have oil or propane, you definitely are likely to have heating bills that much, but ours were routinely $250/month (plus about $150 in electric) for natural gas and that was to heat a 1200 square foot condo. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652213 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:27:00 +0000 raspberries 2652213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We live in New England and have radiator (gas) heating - our electric bills are still $250-$300 in the coldest months because we have tons of older windows! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652212 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:24:28 +0000 skipra 2652212@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The house I grew up in had that and it was awful. I guess the heating bills were enormous in the winter and we were always freezing anyway. We weren't allowed to turn the heat on in our bedrooms until bedtime and even then only very low. We had a heater in the kitchen that blew out the air and my sisters and I huddled in front of it to get dressed. We also had a wood stove once I was older and that was key to survival! Maybe a pellet stove would be better for allergies?<br /> We moved when I was in high school and the first thing they did to the house was convert from electric to oil. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652209 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:09:07 +0000 ShootingStar 2652209@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would not consider buying a house with baseboard heat, electric or otherwise. Most houses with baseboard heat do not have central air conditioning, and that is a must for me. We use the AC from May to September. I hate leaving windows open because it affects my allergies. Plus in the summer it takes way too long for it to get cool enough outside to make a difference inside. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652192 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 13:50:00 +0000 Foodnerd81 2652192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: yes this is how ours are now. It's our windows that are the problem, not the baseboards. </p> <p>Though the baseboards are just ugly. :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652191 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 13:49:19 +0000 catlady 2652191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't have electric baseboard but actually an even worse system (20+ year old electric ceiling panels...honestly whoever installed them was insane). We used those the first year and our electric bills in the winter got to $800+ (tiny townhouse, less than 1100 sf, with shared walls too). Over the next couple years, we gradually switched to using our fireplaces (gas) plus electric space heaters plus I switched electric suppliers to get a better rate...it basically cut our bill in half (last winter I think the highest was ~$300 for electric, although last winter was also noticeably warmer than the previous year). I hate that we are relying on space heaters though.</p> <p>Today we had someone come in to give us a quote for mini splits. I am sick of our horrible heating situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652181 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 13:42:21 +0000 looch 2652181@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Make sure you check and see if they are truly electric. I live in the NE in a house with baseboard heating and I was so worried about it until my husband and father confirmed that they are actually not electric. They are powered using oil, and have coils that hot water runs through to provide the heat. My house was built in 1963. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652180 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 13:41:48 +0000 Foodnerd81 2652180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We lived in an apartment like that and I can't remember quite what our bills were but it was fairly high for the small space. But we were on the ground level too. </p> <p>I think Windows make a big difference too. Our new house has baseboard heating (oil) but old single panes windows and it always feels cold. We are going to replace the windows when we can but for now I feel like half our heat escapes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homes-with-only-electric-baseboard-heat-in-new-england#post-2652153 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 13:07:58 +0000 BSB 2652153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you live in a home with electric baseboard heat and you are in New England?</p> <p>I'm told your electric bill could be $400-500 or more a month during the dead of winter. </p> <p>Because of this, I'm trying to avoid these houses. </p> <p>Oh, because DH is an asthmatic, we won't be using firewood and the fireplace.</p> <p>I'm sure there are a few of you who own a house like this in NE. I want to know how you guys deal with it. </p>